Watching films that are seen less frequently is really exciting at a time that prominent works of the 29th Fajr International Film Festival are getting the lion’s share of attention. The main reason I go to the festival is to watch the first and second movies made by young directors. I do the same in all international events because I am more fascinated by such films than those made by famous directors. I enjoyed watching Kahani’s first work, Adam. At that time, I was the only one to write about the film and its director. Now I am happy that Kahani is a famous filmmaker. There were many young names in this year’s festival.
  Opposite Mirrors, the first film by Negar Azarbaijani, is about sex change and acceptable as a first film though not surprising. At least, her film is not as impressing as her brother’s work, Unfinished Stories. The sequence in which the girl encounters the female driver is too tedious. Even their relationship, which makes her film a road movie, is boring. The movie, however, shows that Azarbaijani is interested in working with novel themes in the Iranian cinema.
  Golchehreh is the best film made by Vahid Mousaeian. His previous features, Wishes of the Land, Silence of the Sea, Solitude of the Wind and his documentary, The Lost Land, have been already screened at various international festivals. Golchehreh is about Afghan cinema and film archives which is characterized by good directing, set design, and professional acting. Although the story focuses on Afghanistan (all décors have been rebuilt in Iran), it can well be an international theme. The finale, where Ashraf Khan is executed in front of his movie theater’s screen by Taliban and its combination with final parts of Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, where Alexander sacrifices everything for his decision, is especially fascinating.
  Mehrshad Karkhani focuses on abandoned movie theaters in Koocheh Melli. This is a film about love of cinema and its storyline is quite simple and predictable. It, however, manages to keep viewers along by combining love of cinema with true love. Of course, the search of two young couple for their past needs more detail. Their reaction on the day that their parents are going to meet after many years is also too simplistic. The final sequence where two old lovers meet at a distance is attractive. They are kept at a distance from the camera to conceal the secret of their love...

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